Mbeki was hoodwinked, not right man for Codesa 2 – expert

Former president Thabo Mbeki was correct to call for a national dialogue to thrash out the country’s future but, as a former negotiator during the pre-1994 negotiations at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa), was the wrong leader to facilitate such talks, an expert said.

The envisaged Codesa 2 was necessary, said political analyst Prof Lesiba Teffo, but it was called for by the wrong people – those who handled the pre-1994 negotiations that had since caused chaos under the ANC.

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Mbeki, as one of the ANC negotiators in exile with the Afrikaner delegation for a democratic South Africa, was not suitable because black leaders were hoodwinked into compromises at the negotiating table, Teffo said.

‘Not responsible’

“It can’t be the former protagonists of Codesa that brought us to this sorry state. The systems now are far worse than the apartheid and homeland systems.

“The envisaged Codesa 2 might also be remembered for its extravagant budget and glossy and voluminous reports. Let’s learn from the mistakes of yesteryear.”

The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) welcomed the idea. FF+ leader Dr Pieter Groenewald said his party had called for another Codesa-style gathering to talk about how to create a prosperous South Africa for all.

He said such a gathering should discuss the question of self-determination as contained in Section 235 of the constitution, as it was the main outstanding issue from the previous talks.

Mbeki told the attendees at a celebration of the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s democracy last week that the country needed to hold a national dialogue. He promised it would take place this year.

But South African Rainbow Alliance president Colleen Makhubele had a different view. She lashed out at Mbeki for “facing a moral crisis to want political parties to gather in a national dialogue to solve a clear ANC internal factional crisis involving the ruling party and its breakaway uMkhonto weSizwe [MK] party”.

“The MK party does not constitute a crisis for the nation, it’s a crisis for the ANC and what they stand for,” Makhubele said.

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“We really think this is waste of time. Let’s go into the elections; let the ideas that people resonate with be voted on.

“Let us see who emerges as the leader of this nation and can turn around the crisis and moral clarity of this nation,” she said.

Groenewald said the convention agenda should also contain discussion on black economic empowerment, affirmative action, job creation and deliberations on the 12 official languages, that included sign language.

“I would also like to see that in the end we respect each other’s culture and that everyone has a right to practice it, although the constitution determines that.”

He said SA’s leaders must stop talking about the past as if they were trying to create a better past, when they actually want to create a better future.

“We must stop blaming apartheid for everything. We must start holding hands and work for the future where we can create prosperity, safety and peace in South Africa,” Groenewald said.